


Bright Idea

by DaisyTwist



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alive Reginald Hargreeves, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dead Ben Hargreeves, Drug Addict Klaus Hargreeves, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Issues, Gen, Good Parent Grace Hargreeves, I assume that tag is sarcastic, Minor Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Pansexual Klaus Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Tags May Change, You won't like this, five is ooc because he never went to the future and is just a stupid young adult, if you don't like Luther, like a touch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27586099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisyTwist/pseuds/DaisyTwist
Summary: Nearly every Five has one thing in common: they all love their families. Five didn't leave for the future in 2002, but he didn't exactly stay either. Now he's back at the academy and determined to get his family far from their old life. Everyone has left except Luther, but everyone is still holding onto their past.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Allison Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Dr. Pogo, Number Five | The Boy & Grace Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Reginald Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Bright Idea

“Why don’t you just move out?” Vanya watched Five stand up from the large park rock he’d been sitting on. She jumped off hers to walk with him.

“Because. You guys are far more important than I am. That includes Space Boy, and I don’t need him dying on a mission.”

“Okay, but maybe if you leave, Luther will follow.” 

“He won’t, V. He’s stubborn. And he basically worships Dad... It’s disgusting.”

“Maybe… Just leave him there then?” Vanya suggested. Five groaned and threw his head back dramatically.

“I can’t… He’s my brother.” 

“I don’t understand you, Five.” Vanya said, leaning over to bump shoulders with him.

“You understand me better than the others do.”

“Do I really? Cause I don’t understand why you’re trying to protect Luther if he doesn’t want to be protected.” 

“You understand that I uh…” Five looked down at the ground. “That I love all of you...” He cleared his throat. “And that I want you to be safe.”

“I suppose I do understand that.” She scrunched her face up. “But they don’t treat u- you the greatest.” 

“I left.” 

“I know. But it’s not an excuse.” 

“....I miss you.” Five changed the subject. Vanya frowned.

“I miss you too… let's just get an apartment together. Like roommates.”

“Absolutely, if I can get Luther to move out before then.” 

“So never. Cause Dad’ll die before Luther moves out.”

“Probably.” Five shrugged. “If he goes to space maybe I’ll move out. Space is safer than missions”   
“He still wants to do that?” 

“Yes. I think he should be a teacher…”

“A teacher?”

“You should’ve seen him with the kids after our last mission…” Five smiled fondly. “He’s good with them.”

“I didn’t know that.” Five paused and turned to look her in the eyes.

“I know you don’t want to talk to the others but-”

“I can’t, Five. My therapist said-” 

“But Diego has reached out to you. He feels bad.” Five insisted.

“I don’t want to talk to Diego.” Vanya said, looking away.

“V… c’mon.” Vanya kept her gaze on the ground. He elbowed her. “You don’t trust me? Is that it? Well you should because I’m the smartest person you know.”

“Ben is the smartest person I know.”

“You… You’re not wrong. But street smarts-”

“Probably Klaus?”

“Okay, strategy-”

“Diego or Luther.”

“The point is. You should listen to me because I’m right.” 

“Never mind. We don’t have to talk about this right now. How’s school?” He gestured for her to follow him again. 

“Fine.” 

“Any new friends?” 

“No.”

“Anything interesting in your classes?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Are you going to elaborate?”

“No.” 

“... I think you’re just mad at me because you know I’m right.” Five said. Vanya paused.

“...Can you take me home? I need to study.”

“Uh. Sure.” Five took her arm, shrinking in disappointment.

Five flopped down on his bed and slapped his hands over his face. He stayed like that for a moment before pushing himself up and going over to pull his desk chair out. He ducked his head under his desk and pried a book out from where he’d wedged underneath. The book was the same blue as the academy uniform, and had gold accents on the spine. The academy crest was in the center of the cover. Five knew it was pretentious but truthfully liked it anyway. He opened it up to the page marked by a black ribbon attached to the book and took a pen out of the black plastic pencil holder sitting on his desk. He pressed the pen to the paper to write.

_ Today I neglected to go to training and instead visited a park with Vanya. While I believe Luther will give me trouble for this decision, I do not regret it. Spending time with Vanya is never regrettable. She and I spoke about mundane things such as world events and her schooling (I’m still  _ _ extremely  _ _ proud of her. Perhaps Father will allow me to attend her graduation. I do hope so.) then spoke of my current living situation and my intentions to keep our other siblings safe, particularly Luther. She suggested finding an apartment together, and I declined. (Despite desperately wanting to accept her invitation.) _

He closed his eyes and poked his forehead with his pen before continuing.

_ I still must somehow convince Luther that there is more out there for him than simply playing superhero. I also spoke to Vanya about meeting with Diego. I have discussed it with her in the past and this meeting would, of course, be mediated by myself. I think this is perfectly fair, but she does not. She got angry with me and requested to go back to her dorm. Perhaps it’s time to stop asking for her consent to hold a meeting, and just start planning it. I already know that Diego wants to rekindle his relationship with Vanya.  _

He signed his name, closed the book and tucked it back under his desk before leaning back. It wasn’t a great hiding spot. In fact he was sure Grace had already found it. He knew his mother was required to tell Reginald about anything suspicious she found, but nothing had been mentioned about it so he figured his mother had found a loophole in her coding to help her keep it a secret for him. Grace was very good at finding loopholes in her code. Five tried not to think about it too much. He didn’t need to get all existential over his robot mother at the moment. He sighed and tipped his chair back onto it’s back legs. He wasn’t sure what to do. He’d intended on spending time with Vanya for the afternoon but she’d wanted to go home. Now he needed to find something to do until his father left later that evening for a business trip. He thought for a moment before deciding he could use a nap. 

“Five?” Five heard knocking and someone calling his name. 

“Come in…” He mumbled.

“Your door’s locked.” Luther said. It sounded like an accusation and Five couldn’t help but roll his eyes at it. He stretched and slid off the side of his bed to unlock it. Luther opened the door and Five looked up at him. ( _ When did he get so tall?) _

“Hey.”

“Why’d you skip training?”

“I don’t need any more training. I’m awesome.”

“Five, we can always improve ourselves. Especially through training.” Luther pushed his eyebrows together and Five had to keep himself from rolling his eyes again.

“But you’re not denying that I’m awesome?” 

“Why did you skip training?”

“I wasn’t feeling well, okay? Back off.” Luther’s eyes softened. 

“You should go see Mom then.” 

“Yeah, I should.”

“Dad’s gone so… He won’t yell at you for skipping. You can come out of your room.” Luther mumbled. Five tilted his head. This was a level of awareness Five didn’t think Luther had, but he wasn’t complaining. 

“So you understand that Dad is an ass?”

“Don’t talk about him like that!”

“Well then you don’t talk about him like he’s the greatest thing since peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches!” Five muttered.

“I think you mean since sliced bread.” Luther corrected.

“Sliced bread sucks!”

“Don’t you need sliced bread to make-”

“Semantics.” Five went over to his desk chair to pick up the uniform pants he had taken off to nap. He pulled them back on and pushed past Luther who trailed after him.

“I understand that Dad is strict and… well… especially… to you.”

“Strict is an understatement.” Five thought he saw Luther flinch out of the corner of his eye.

“Make sure you go see Mom.”

“Okay, I will.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed down the stairs

“You’re coming to training on Monday, right?” Luther asked. Five ignored him, blinking down to the kitchen. Five spotted Grace standing near the oven. She smiled at him.

“Hello, Five.”

“Hey Mom.” Five strode over to a cupboard and pulled out a jar of Instant coffee. He’d offer to help with dinner, but he knew she’d refuse.

“Hey Mom. What’s for dinner?” Luther slid into the room and over to Grace.

“Luther! Hello! I’m making spinach ravioli.“ She stared at the pot blankly for a moment. “Now I know it’s someone’s favourite. Was it you, Five? Or perhaps it was Diego?” Five froze and felt his stomach sink. He knew who’s favourite it was. 

“Not my favourite.” Luther shrugged.

“Ben, Mom. It was Ben’s favourite.” Five sighed and plugged an electric kettle in. He looked back to see Grace’s face twist into a look of confusion. A look she would have never worn if Reginald had been in the room, Five noted. He would change her so that she couldn’t make those faces. She stared blankly again for a moment before looking at Five, sadly.

“Who is Ben? I’m sorry, I don’t reca-”

“Don’t worry about it Mom. It’s not your fault you can’t remember.”

“Alright.” She said sadly. “I just...” She twitched slightly. Grace couldn’t remember Ben but every so often she would remember something. That was worse than her forgetting completely. Five didn’t know if Grace had emotions, (Diego thought she did and Five wasn’t sure but at moments like these he wondered...) but if she did he hoped it wasn’t able to hurt her as much as it hurt the rest of them. Five pressed the button on the kettle and turned to Luther. He was looking at Grace sadly. His eyes flickered over to Five. Five let his gaze fall to the floor. No way was he sharing _those_ _feelings_ with Luther. Of course there was the little voice in the back of his head that told him Luther looked over at him for a different reason. ( _Because it’s my fault.)_ He pushed it down. 

“Mom, would you like to see Diego this weekend?” 

“Diego? Oh, yes of course! Is he visiting?” 

“He can since Dad’s gone.”

“He isn’t allowed here.” Luther said, firmly. 

“Aw, who cares? He’s Mom’s favourite. She’ll be happy to see him.”

“Now, Five. I love all of my children equally.” She smiled, artificial eyes somehow twinkling as if she was real. She was real, Five reminded himself. Just not human.

“I know you do, Mom.” Five smiled at her. “But… we know that Diego is still your favourite.” He winked. She turned back to the stove.

“Nonsense…” She chuckled. 

“Diego can’t come over.” 

“Yes he can.” Five turned and ignored Luther’s protests. He stared at the kettle and zoned out. He thought about Vanya and his visit. If she had a huge test he could have been helping-  _ shit _ . Five had pushed her too far but she was far too polite and timid to tell him to fuck off. He broke his fixed gaze from the kettle. He poured the water into a mug. Luther was still ranting so he continued to block him out. Five opened the fridge and poured milk into his coffee before adding a little sugar. He made his way over to join Luther at the table.

“...Dad would flip!”

“I’d like to see that.” Five smiled. Luther looked at him in confusion.

“...What?”

“Dad doing a flip.” Luther stared at him in disgust.

“Shush. I didn’t mean it literally.” 

“Luther, say “Shut up”.”

“Heros don’t swear.” 

“First of all, “shut up” is not a swear. It’s just rude. Second of all,” He made a gagging gesture.

“That’s so mature, Five.” Luther rolled his eyes. Five scoffed.

“I’m 1000 times more mature than any of you.” Five tipped his chair back onto the back legs and crossed his arms. Luther looked at Five like he was causing him pain. Five let the chair fall back to all four legs and reached for his mug. He took a sip and set it back on the table.

“How was training?”

“It was okay.”

“Are you sure it was okay?” Five pressed. Luther pushed his eyebrows together.

“Yes?”

“Did you get hurt?”

“What? No.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Five nodded. Luther opened his mouth for a second before closing it and standing up. Five watched as he pulled a glass down from the cupboard. Luther was tall enough that he could easily reach the top cupboards. Five wouldn’t admit it but he was a little jealous of his other brother’s frames. Luther was tall and bulky, Diego was taller than Five and fit, Klaus was scrawny but taller than both Five and Diego. Five was 5’6, (the same as Allison) and skinny. Stronger than Klaus but… still a stick. He hated how much work he had to put into keeping any muscle he did have. Luther returned to the table with a glass of water and sat down, taking a sip nervously. Five flicked his eyes back over to Luther. Luther set his glass down and peered into it. 

“...Leave the academy with me?”

“No, Five. People need us.” Luther said gently. Five rubbed at his face and drank the rest of the coffee quickly. Five slammed his face down on the table making Luther jump.

“Five?” 

“Yes?”

“We’re doing something good here.” Luther tilted his head to try to meet Five’s eyes. Five lifted his head slowly and stared at Luther.

“I disagree.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To convince you that Dad is a major ass.” 

“If that’s the only reason then you should leave like everyone else because Dad made us superheroes and the others just  _ wasted _ it. I want to help-” 

“Never mind, Luther. Vanya is already mad at me. I don’t need you mad at me too right now.” Five sighed and gently placed his face back onto the table. Luther wasn’t happy with their siblings for leaving, but the sibling Luther wasn’t mad at at all was Vanya. He wasn’t close to her but he fully agreed with Reginald that she should live her life outside the academy, normally. Five agreed too. It just meant that he didn’t have to worry about her blowing something up or some other ridiculous thing. Five knew that Luther wanted what was best for her, but wasn’t too interested in what she was doing with her life. Vanya was also the only sibling Luther encouraged Five to visit. Probably for morale or something.

“What happened?” Luther asked gently.

“She’s just being stubborn. I just want her to meet up with Diego, but she won’t.”

“I don’t blame her.” 

“She doesn’t want to see you either, Luther.” Five spat out. Luther shrugged.

“That’s her choice. I don’t know that we’d have much in common anyway. Opposite ends of the, uh, number line and all.”

“Shut up about the numbers... You both love music.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, idk man. You can critique this or tell me if I have spelling/ grammatical errors. It's chill.
> 
> This fic is named after Bright Idea by Mother Mother.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwGjw05LUgU


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